26 cited in underaged drinking sting in Lawrence

State and local law enforcement officers wrote tickets for 26 violations in Lawrence related to minors possessing alcohol and fake IDs during a special enforcement effort two weeks ago, according a group that targets underage drinking.

During a special grant-funded program known as Fake ID 101 the night of Sept. 8, officers with the Kansas Department of Revenue’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Division and local law enforcement agencies ticketed 13 people who were minors in possession of alcohol and wrote 11 tickets for possession of a fake ID, said Jen Jordan, director of prevention for DCCCA and a member of The New Tradition Coalition of Lawrence.

Lawrence police, Douglas County Sheriff’s and Kansas University Public Safety officers participated, she said.

Jordan said officers also cited one bartender and one server in Lawrence for allegedly furnishing alcohol to a minor, and that ABC officers wrote administrative citations to four bars — The Hawk, 1340 Ohio; Saints Pub and Patio, 2329 Iowa; Abe and Jake’s Landing, 8 E. Sixth St.; and Cadillac Ranch, 2515 W. Sixth St. — accusing them of allowing minors to possess alcohol that night. Administrative citations from the ABC can carry fines and penalties toward an establishment’s liquor license depending on several factors.

Representatives of the four bars could not be reached for comment Monday.

Jordan said thanks to state grant funds for overtime the agencies plan to conduct a similar enforcement later this semester to be on the lookout for fake IDs and underage drinking. During the spring and fall semesters in 2010, 117 people were cited for 241 different underage drinking and fake ID violations.

“By being out and being present, we’re hoping that that’s going to deter the problem behavior,” she said.

Jordan said the coalition in August also conducted voluntary training on how to detect fake IDs and other issues for staff members of alcohol retailers.

I have a solution to the problem and I'm sure, when implemented, Shangri La will follow: prohibition of alcohol. It works so well with drugs and prostitution, why wouldn't it work for alcohol? Let's get moving on this, Brownback and Company. I expect alcohol prohibition in Kansas before the end of this year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiYqFX...

oneeye, I like the cut of your jib. Wouldn't it be nice to find out how much each conviction cost, including fines.

Back in the day places were raided for underage drinking when citizens noticed the problem. Of all things a 20 year old college coed sucking a brew isn't on the top of my list regarding things to cure.

Kansas prove you are trying to stop underage drinking and we give you x. Ok, how about us raiding some joints and we will prove it by the number of tickets.

The folks who get caught should be pissed, as the below example.

I remember a time when funds were taken away from states not writing speeding tickets on I-80. In Wyoming. The state police would write quota tickets in the first few days of the month, then back to the normal 90 mph.

Always some poor tourist smuck for going 62 and his insurance goes up for 3 years. Stealing if you ask me, legalized stealing.

Montana would give you a "ticket" that required you to pay $ 5.00 ... then it was "good" for the rest of the day ... if you got stopped again, you just showed your ticket, and they sent you on your way. 55mph was, indeed, Washington-think. A one-size-fits-all that really fit No One.

Note: your age can be 20 years, 11 months and 29 days (more or less - and you could even be fresh off a stint or two in Afghanistan) and this misguided law considers you "a child".
Gosh! I wonder why no one respects this law?

Or it could be a 13 year old girl being bought shots by some guy three times her age. Nothing bad gonna happen there, right?
But if 20 years, 11 months and 29 days should be O.K. to drink, then how about 20 years, 11 months and 28 days? How about 20 years, 11 months and 27 days? ...............................
What then is "exactly" that date you would put on it?

18...17 if you're enlisted. If you're old enough to die for your country, you're old enough to have a celebratory drink if you make it home alive. For non-military, 18, since you are legally an adult who can sign contracts, get married without anyone's permission, etc. It seems pretty simple to me.

Sorry, do to early deaths of teen aged drinkers, this was proved by the government with lots of ads, I am one of the 21 year olds that voted to raise the drinking age. Just doing my part to keep teenagers alive. Besides that year I could legally drink anyway.

Underage drinking is a very, very serious problem here in Lawrence, and I applaud the New Tradition Coalition for working to bring awareness of the problem to the forefront of the community's conscious. The easy access to alcohol and drugs and the binge drinking that starts in junior high in Lawrence and continues steadily is part of the fuel of a nationwide epidemic.

Solutions begin with open dialogue and a nonjudgmental environment toward parents. The NTC has work diligently to promote a healthy environment in which to foster a climate where we can come together as partners to keep our children safe. I am profoundly grateful for their efforts.

So if it starts at the Junior High level, why are our police focused on only going to college bars? Saints just opened, and already Lawrence has given them a warm welcoming! No wonder everyone calls our city "business friendly"...

21 is an idiotic drinking age to begin with. Alcohol is demonized in this country and that makes teenagers want it that much more. IMO, the drinking age should be 16 for beer and 18 for liquor. Growing up in a foreign country, I was drinking legally at 16 and have turned out just fine (28 now). Are there going to be those who abuse alcohol if the age was lowered? Yes, but no age limit (or prohibition) is going to change that contrary to some people's beliefs.

Growing up around alcohol and being able to drink if I chose made it not that big a deal. Hell, I could get a beer with a Happy Meal if I so chose to in HS, lol. The US is just TOO uptight about certain things (alcohol, nudity, etc) and it has the opposite effect. Police man power could be put to a much better use than worrying if an 18 yr old is enjoying a beer with friends.

If one tried, one could find at least one or two high school drinking parties held almost every weekend since the 1940s.

Then you raid the illegal party, embarrass some mommy and daddies with court dates and minor tickets.

Seriously growing up in the 60s, one could find a party every weekend. Semi chug a half bottle of Boones Farm Strawberry wine, a couple of warmish beers, a little kissy face with the girl from Geometry, off to the backyard to belch biscuits, ending the night with a little “hold on my bed is moving whirlybed action.” Who could ask for much more?

Not a Jo-Co fan, but the county cops do go after high school kid parties. If they find adults are helping with purchases, then the fines get real.

Cut the drinking age to something other than an random number. I say make it 17. That's the age when you can become A Marine, go to Afghanistan, step on an IED and lose your legs while protecting "freedom" in America.

I am glad that the enforcement is done...I hope they do more...26 people stopped from falling from a 3rd story window, or walking into street traffic, or even worse, getting into a car and driving into someone else. I hope these 26 have friends who might now think before going out to illegally drink alcohol. Of course others will still do it, but if we stop one from being hurt or worse, its worth it.

Heck when Sting and The Police did this about 2 years ago I was at a bar that they raided. They got 1 under age person, a 20 year old Lcpl on leave from Iraq enjoying a freedom beer that he helped to protect and earned to drink. You should have see the cops faces as the whole bar gave em spit for writting that ticket.

I always wonder why people blame police officers since they are only enforcing the laws that policy makers create. You vote the policy makers in..if you don't want the drinking age to be set at 21, then tell your legislator.

Maybe we should just go back to 3.2 beer at 18 and the regular stuff at 21. Part of the college experience is social interaction which often includes beer and has for at least the last six decades. No matter what we do, some kids will end up being alcoholics, get dui's, get in wrecks, fall off a balcony or do something really idiotic. The majority of young adults are responsible and should be able to have a couple of beers.

I wonder how many of those "minors possessing alcohol" are over 18 years old but not yet 21 years old?

Commencing at 18 years of age every U.S. citizen has the legal right to vote, open a business, buy a car, get married, join the military (or get drafted if that starts up again), buy a house. But...they can't buy a beer?

Where once the legal drinking age in Kansas was 18 years old, be advised that the bizarre and idiotic drinking law we have now -- a law that led to this latest round of arrests -- was brought to you in the 1980s by the cynical Ronald Reagan administration when "the Gipper" began looking for ways to suck up to the Christian Right fundamentalist "Family Values" crowd. Reagan threatened the states with a total cutoff of federal highway funding if their legislatures failed to pass state laws that would raise the drinking age to 21.

President Reagan is dead. Change the law back to like it was before. Anyone in Lawrence old enough to vote and get sent off to war, they're old enough to order a beer without getting ticketed or handcuffed.